Tarnishing the waters
by Mastermindhunter
Summary: A new spire series. When the animals are pirates, things become more of an adventure than they thought. Who do you consider friends, or worthy? Does the heart truley define treasure as simply silver and gold? Could the enemy ever be considered a friend?
1. The silver wake

There they were, at the only animal Pirate haven in all of the French ports. The sweet port of Vert Pays. The last of the loot they had obtained had been spent and traded. The last of the treasure was saved to spend on new supplies. The crew was resupplying with all they could get their paws on. A few foods, and drink here and there, along with a few barrels of gunpowder. Their lanterns were well filled with oil, and ready. Rope, and all was together. They had just obtained a new sail, and was packing all the supplies they could. The maps were the most up to date ones they could find. A few animals grabbed some bandanas, and hats. Captain Blowhole was just writing the voyages new set of rules for the voyage. His crew recruiting was all done. Their route would be fast. He stared out the pub's dirty window, and saw his crew packing aboard the supplies. Satisfied, he grabbed his new set of rules, and rolled out on his sageway. (Yes I said sageway. It's olden time, and still I want a sageway!)

When he wheeled out of the pub, he stared up at his splendid ship. Such a beauty it was. It was his pride and joy to have captured such a marvelous ship. It was the largest one in the entire Spanish fleet. Clearly it dwarved any ship around. Ever since he captured the ship "The silver wake" He's been proud. He strapped his eyepatch down, and wheeled up to the ship. He had gotten one that was a beautiful flourescent crimson color. He wheeled all the way up to the deck. His first mate Eli flew up to him, from the masses.

"Well, captain they are all set, and ready to be seen. Every able bodied animal here to be seen, and assigned." The animals all stared at him, and stood in their straight line along the side of the ship. Each one was different. He looked at them with some surprise. He didn't expect them to be so diverse. Variety was a usefull tool, though. What one species of animal couldn't do, another one could. He had learned that through years of experience. His youthfull days had been spent with his previous crew. His first mate Eli, was a bat. His fur color was tan and dark brown. He was considerably tall. He had brown eyes. He had a scar that went across his left eye, making his seem quite viscious in swordbattle. He had gotten it earlier in Pirating. At first he was the cabin boy of Captain Blowhole's crew. He wasn't as sinister as his appearance let on, though.

Captain Blowhole nodded, and rolled down the line. "Hmm . . . When I roll up to you, you will look me in the only eye I have, and tell me your name, and rank. Are we clear?" He hollared. Everyone said aye in unison.

He rolled up to the first animal in line. It was a wolf. Very useful. He had grey fur like gunpowder. His eyes were yellow that was good for striking fear into the hearts of enemies. He was quite large. A gold earring was through his ear. "Kyle, Captain. Ranking: master at arms."

After that was a cat. He had two different color eyes. One was the color blue, which was the left. And, the right was the color green. His fur was a mixture of yellow and brown, but he did have brown stripes. He was incredibly skinny. It seemed a bit like he was too skinny to fight, but if he were on the ship, Blowhole would make do. Many silver earrings covered his ears. He had three in his left, and two in his right. "Max, Captain. Ranking: Boatswain."

The four next crewmen were quite interesting. They wore feathers of black and white. Their eyes as blue as the ocean. If Blowhole remembered correctly, they were antarctic birds called penguins. "You must be those things called . . . er pen-gu-ins." The littlest one raised his wing to speak, but the Captain ignored. "Nevermind, just state your name, and ranking." The penguin next in line was rather stragly looking. Around his stomach, he wore a buckle belt. He had a long protruding crack scar up the left side of his face. Perfect to secure his apparent knowledge of fighting skills hopefully. His feathers stuck on end, atop his head. Blowhole looked at him suspiciously. "Your name, Sailor!" He was a bit shocked when the penguin started to babble, and garble in unaudible things that made no sense.

The one that was next to him, was one to speak for him. "Uhh, I beg your pardon Captain fella, but our friend Rico here isn't the best with words. You see, his name is Rico, and his ranking is a gunner." He said proudly. Apparently he was the preffered leader of these birds.

Blowhole stared at him, and wheeled closely to him. He was looking this tiny bird up and down. "And who might you be?" He said raising the eyebrow over the only eye he still had.

The penguin stood proud. "Skipper, Captain. Ranking: Quartermaster." Blowhole was quite impressed by his pride. He had a flat head, and a puffyer chest. A blue bandana covered his head. His head distinguished him from the rest. He knew he would hate being controlled by a captain, but that was the way things were on the ship.

By his side stood a rather tall penguin. He was the tallest of the four, and had a rather slender build, with a bit of a distinguishing look to his eyebrows. He straightened once the dolphin rolled up to him. He had a large hat with a small feather in it. "Kowalski, Captain. Ranking: Doctor."

Blowhole nodded twice. "Hmm yes, quite." He mumbled. He rolled up to a penguin that seemed the youngest of the four. He was a bit on the round side. He had that feel of sensetivity that would prove not too usefull with scoundrels. Blowhole assured himself, though, that he would learn on the job. he had ring up his wing, near his shoulder. He stared nervousley up at the dolphin. He quickley bowed his head, and looked down. "Private, Captain. Ranking: Seasperson." Blowhole looked at him and nodded with a smile. If his crew feared him, then they would no doubt be an obedient lot.

Next he wheeled up to an otter. He was a rather young Asian otter. He had a yellow scarf tied around his head. It seemed like someone such as him had never sailed a day in his life. Still through the amature exterior, he had a bit of a build. He was still sort of short, pointing out that youthfull spirit. And he was skinny, but average amount. When Blowhole wheeled over to him, he held his chest out trying to seem tough. "Tristan, Captain. Ranking: Carpenter." He nodded to the giant marine mammal that was much taller than him. Blowhole admired his spunk.

Close to the high spirited otter, stood a smaller bat. He was the same looking bat as Eli though a bit shorter. He had no scar either. He had the appearence of Private's stature, with a big chest. He was a few inches shorter than the average bat, his accent was from southern france. His fur was fully brown. His eyes were a bright blue. He held many precious stones, that were tied to strings that connected to earings in his ears. "Erik, Captain. Ranking: Second mate." He nodded once.

"Well, since all the higher ranks are filled out, I expect the rest of you all to be ranked as seamen." Next he wheeled up to a large alligator. He was the only animal aboard that rivalled his hieght. Hopefully he would match it in attitude. It appeared not. When he rolled up, he smiled at the dolphin, and shook his fin excitedly. The claws didn't feel too welcoming to his smooth skin. "Roger, Captain!" He saluted. Blowhole was quite surprised by his welcoming attitude.

Next was a bird that he knew very well could fly. That was a great addition to the bats. Flight helped them considerably. The eagle was Strong looking definitely. He had thick grey feathers, and a masculinity stature. He also included a scar going across his right eye. The strong eagle had a tough strong manly voice, when he spoke, and seemed exceptionally large. Apparently he was an alpha male in his time. "Vincent, Captain." He said nodding in obedience.

The one standing next to Vincent was a smug looking racoon. He wore a tricorner hat. This young one seemed like a slick one. He had grey fur, with a white chest up front. The color of his mask was a faded black. His tail held the same faded black color. His tail held that pattern, with dark and white rings. His eyes were a dazzling blue. He was definitely a ladies man, back at port. "Dante's the name. Women is my game. It seemed like he would cause troubles on land, but if he was willing to be part of the crew, Blowhole didn't ask questions. The animals he would see next were something he was not prepared for.

The last few animals were fluffy long eared animals. Their tails were long, and they were of different colors. He had seen them only one other time, and that was around the coast of Africa. He remembered they were called lemurs. He rolled up to the first one. He was a ringtailed lemur. A tall stature with a flashy red and white sunhat. A few cloths of different colors were tied along his ringed tail. Probably pieces of cloth from old rankings. "The name is King Julien. And I expect to be the Captain should you fall." Okay maybe he didn't have experience.

The next was an aye aye. How ironic. He was stout, with large bat like ears. He was less annoying than the first one. "Maurice, Captain." He smiled modestly.

The next one seemed like the most obediant. He was a dark red furred lemur. His eyes were deep green eyes, and he had a muscular stature. His hat was a black tricorner hat. He removed it, and bowed. "Raymond , Captain."

The last one was the youngest of the whole crew. He was a vibrant little mouse eared lemur, with orange brown fur. His eyes large and baby like. He was smiling up at the large dolphin. A black scarf covered his head. Eli told him earlier that there would be a child. He was told that his name was Mort. He smiled down, knoing that he would be the next cabin boy. "Eli write him down as the cabin boy." He stood at the top of the deck, and stuck his cutlass into the wood." Alright you swabs. I have done more pirating in one year, than all of you will do in a lifetime combined. I have seen things come and go, including" He lifted his eyepatch disturbing the younger members of his crew. "My personal qualities of youth. I have a set of rules to follow. Rule number one. No stealing from the ships coffers. Punishment is marooning on a remote uncharted island." Maurice bit his lip, feeling uneasy at the thought. "Rule number two. You cannot abandon or desert your post or crewmates during battle. It is capitol punishment and is resulting in marooning." Kyle shifted at his feet. "And the most important rule. No female crew members on my ship." Dante rolled his eyes, as if it were a foolish rule. "We will follow these rules, and if they are of not your liking then you might as well walk off this ship now. Are we clear?" All the members shouted aye. "Alright. We set sail for the Spanish main. There is a supply of seven hundred thousand pounds headed to that way from jekyll island to Cuba. I say we plunder at least one ship from that fleet." He smiled. "Never mind stealing the ship. We have the largest fastest ship of all the waters. We will never be revealed as pirates considering our size."

Then in one final smile, he raised a flipper, and announced sail. "Let us make our way!" The group cheered, and sprang to life. The sails rose high, and the anchor hoisted. Their black pirate flag wafted in the breeze. It showed a dolphin skull, with crossed bones. A jolly roger made to strike fear into their hearts. Who in the right mind would be able to rival such a perfect ship with such a crew?


	2. The gem blood

From the coast of Jamaica, sailed a group of pirates that were soon to meet with Captain Blowhole's crew. They were headed to the pirate haven port on an island off the English coast. It was known as the European port of Petals Island, considering it's large amount of flowers, there. For an island that was known as a pirate sanctuary, it was quite beautiful, and well groomed, beyond it's sand shore. The perfect place to make spending spot. They had just gotten away with the biggest pillaging yet. A whole ship filled with jewels. They knew that back at the docks, they would spend it in a heart beat. Still they were a far ways away. The english coast was all the way across the Atlantic. On the other hand, they were half way there. They had made a stop at the Azores islands, to rest a bit. A few more days, and they would most likely make it there home free.

Their ship was the best of all the ships in the ocean. She was the largest merchant galleon in all of England. She used to be, anyway, untill the crew had taken her three years ago. She was a finely painted ship, with it's pride and joy admired by all. The ship had gone by the name "The gem blood". It was a very special ship, with a very special crew. There weren't very many of them. Just enough to have the ship running smoothly. Considering that it was Englands largest ship, and there were only fourteen crew members, the crew was quite successfull, to be going on as long as it had.

Unlike Captain Blowhole's crew, this ship's crew had known eachother for a long time, since childhood. They had all been people of youth, come together for adventure on the high seas. Each one from a different part of the world. Also they were very different, in gender. The crew was all females. They took pride in their work. They had known that whatever a man could achieve, they could achieve more. They already had the largest ship above all male pirates. Not only that, but the captain was in charge of the most well organized crew in all the waters.

The captain had went under the weather deck towards the bottom to look at the hold. When she went underneath, there was a vast stretch of giant enourmous chests. Inside them were gems, jewels, and pearls of all types. The chests were the size of a cannon. They had taken the time to seperate the treasures. Each of the chests were filled to the brim with something different. Every different color pearl was put in it's own chest. Even the rarest of pearls were filled to the brim in their own chest. Even though the chests were large and vast the girls promised they would each keep at least one of the pieces of jewelry. They had to have just plundered the biggest heist of jewels in history.

The captain was an armadillo. She went by the name of Captain Ellie. Captain Ellie was a special armadillo. She was always standing on two legs. She had long and slim brown ears, with a big gold hoop earring in each ear. Her back was vertical and she stood straight unlike the other armadillos. Her shell was a dark silver with smidgens of brown, her skin was rough with scales that is the color of bronze. Her eyes were a mid-brown with eyelashes similar to one of her crewmate's, Marlene's.

She figured that since it was now evening, and almost time for the crew to turn in for the night, she figured that she might as well call them in for their heist splits. She walked down to the cabins deck to call her crew's first mate, Rachel. Rachel was a quick witted clever rabbit. She had the darkest of black fur, like the night sky. Her eyes match to boot. She held cute blue eyes, and she kept a red scarf, tied into a bow around her neck. She was a very fast fighter, and enjoy a good pillage and plunder. She especially enjoyed fooling the ships into thinking they were a merchant vessel, and at the last minute raising the jolly roger. "First mate Rachel. Come. We're about to split the treasure!" She hopped out of her bunk and ran alongside of her captain.

Down in the captives cells, Naomi, Tanya, and Mia were mopping the floors. It looked good to see that the floors were clean. They had no prisoners inside the cells. It was easy to manage, when all your enemies surrendered so easily. Naomi was the master at arms, and a Japanese wolf. Naomi acted like any quiet, timid, animal. She also had a sense of humor. Naomi is much like Kyle from Captain Blowhole's crew, except her fur is white, and she has blue eyes.

Mia was the same species of lemur as Julian from Blowhole's crew, and the ship's gunner. She was quite smug of herself, but willing to do what she needed to be loved. She loved attention, and fun. To put it in plainly she was just like the lemur that was thousands of miles away. The other lemur, Tanya was quite special, as well as a seasperson. Tanya had light brown fur, yellow eyes, average weight, and had a Russian accent. She also seemed to be the calm one of the two lemurs. Tanya acted mostly like a tomboy, and had a good sense of humor. She was willing to help her freinds if they ever got hurt. Captain Ellie, jumped down the stairs to her crew. "Let's go girls. We are about to split the jewels." The mops clattered to the floor.

Amy and Marlene were in the gunnery getting their weapons cleaned. They were polishing the pistols carefully. Marlene was an otter, and the ship's Quartermaster. She had a distinguishing white patch on her right foot, and a white patch that went below her eyes, and circled down into a circle collar above her chest. The rest of her fur was a light brown. Amy was a cat, and the ship's boatswain. She was incredibly thin like Max, from Captain Blowhole's ship. She was more of a tomboy. She had grey fur with black stripes, and blue eyes. Rachel swung the door open. "Come on ladies. We be dividing up the jewels now."

Down in the Galley, the seaspeople Darla and Maddie were cooking up some new foods, with spices they had obtained from the jewel ship. Darla was a baboon with bright sandy blonde fur. Her tail was crooked half way down. Maddie, or momma duck as some called her, had been out at sea for a while. She had left her ducklings with her sister back at Petals island. She had missed them for a while, but knew that her sister would take grand care of them. Especially little scoundrel eggy. She was a white duck with marvelous blue eyes. Captain Ellie ran down to them. "girls the time has come. Make haste."

Down at the very bottom of the boat sat the rest of the girls girls in the hold. They were drinking tea. The girls down in the holds of supplies, they had helped themselves to the tea they stole from the jewel merchants. They were quite satisfied with what they got their paws on. Kelsi, Cassie, Stacy and Becky were chatting about just common things. What their favorite moment of the heist was, and things like that. Becky was a yellowish golden blonde badger, and the ships carpenter. The area around her eyes, and her chest was a dirty blonde color. She had emerald green eyes, with black paws. Stacy was a red color badger. Her fur around her eyes was an auburn shade of red, and her chest was a beige color. Her eyes were blue, and she had similar black paws. Kelsi was another story. She was a little vampire bat. Kelsi had a hour-glass shape, which was attractive to the male animals. Her eyes were pure blue. Cassie was a gray squrrel, and the ship's doctor. She had shiny grey fur, and a bushy tail. "Come ladies. I want movement!"

One last person was missing, and Captain Ellie knew exactly where she would be. She ran up to the bow of the boat. On the large wooden beak of the bow's ship, was perched Kiki. Kikiania, or just Kiki, was a keel billed toucan. Her feathers were mostly jet black, but the beginning of her chest were cream-yellow feathers, that continued to go up until it reach the mid of her forehead, which circled back down to her chest. Her legs were a mid-blue, while her beak was green and light blue with an orange stripe, with a red tip of her beak. The tip of her tail was red. She had sparkly blue eyes with long eyelashes. She was one of the more tropical crew members, as well as one of the youngest and smallest. Kelsi flew up to the beak to call her in for the splitting of the treasure.

They all gathered round in the bottom of the ships hold. Each chest was cracked open. The jewels shined against the candle lit lanterns. Sapphires, rubies, diamonds, pearls, emeralds. All different types of treasure was there. One by one, the girls split it up accordingly. The girls were allowed something special for the gemstones that had already been made into jewelry. Each girl got to have a piece of jewelry to keep as wear for themselves. Each person got something that suited them. EllCaptain Ellie caught her eyes on something rather fabulous. It was a giant sapphire gemstone necklace. Marlene saw a beautiful spanish emerald bracelet. Kelsi was drawn to a Turquoise encrusted choker. Tanya was falling in love with a rose quartz pendant. She tied it to her tail, and it hung beautifully. Mia of course was attracted to a cystal incrusted tiara. Naomi found some jasper earrings that looked quite fetching. They match perfectly to her eye shape. Amy saw an obsidian black jewel surrounded, and fastened into a medallion. Rachel was the next one, and saw a group of diamond rings, and knew those would be nice to wear when approached by an enemy. Kiki saw a lavender amethyst pendant. She couldn't resist adding on the only color she lacked of her body. Stacy wore a mother of pearl earring. Becky wore a pearl earring, while Cassie wore ruby earrings. Maddie saw some nice pink stones tied together. Darla grabbed a ring of silver to go around her hat.

After their jewels had been picked out all the girs had divided the jewels to be spent once back to England. That night Captain Ellie was wandering around the top deck. It was foggy, and impossible to see a foot infront of you. She had no clue who was out on the deck. All the sails were up, the wheel unattended, and the anchor was out. It was definitely a night to sleep on. They would make for closest port to rest later. When she made her way to the stern, she saw Rachel sitting on the back, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She was munching on a stick of celery. Kiki was nesting her body down next to Rachel. "Ahoy, Rachel. Kiki."

Rachel and Kiki turned, and smiled to their commanding captain. She remained quiet, and they sat there together. "So, what brings you two out of your bunks up to this smoke of the weather? I know it's a sleepless night, considering the royal navy had chased us across the southern atlantic." They looked at Ellie then at each other. "Oh, you all are sleepless for some other reason?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

Rachel decided to speak first. "Well, it's just that the entire crew . . . us included . . . have been on this ship for the longest time. Longer than we can remember." She crunched on her celery. Captain Ellie was afraid that they would want to leave the crew. As scared of that as she was, it was something much more risky.

"True." Kiki said with her heavy Brazilian accent. "We have been together for so long, that we were thinkin things over. We have yet to have any . . . new crewmates. I mean wouldn't it be more fun having a few more pirates enlist with us?" Ellie raised her eyebrow at the nieve little bird.

She shook her head. "I know birds at your age, Kiki, and the answer is no. We are not having a man on board. You know the rules. No men allowed We are an all female ship. You that. You as well, Rachel." She said staring out into the fog, seeing nothingness. The girls looked confused. Captain Ellie then understood. "Oh you meant female pirates." The girls nodded. Ellie didn't know for sure. She had kept this crew as friends her whole life. Could she honestly trust her crew adding a new pirate or two? Well, she didn't know for sure. After all they were the only female pirate crew up to date. She was the best pirate in all the waters, and that was a fact. Still, they couldn't stay glued together forever right? Perhaps a new group of friends was what they needed. "Okay, maybe when we take port back at Petal Island, we can recruit some more seaspeople. But you know our rule. No men allowed!" The girls nodded headed back to their bunks. Little did she know that there was a group of men headed her way, with a captain that would change her life forever.


	3. Fighting the enemy

The morning had brought about no luck. There was good shine on their luck however wind wise. Captain Blowhole had with him a steady consistent wind. It was not too rough, nor too calm. It was just right. Enough to get them going where they needed to go. Hopefully it would rise in blowhing away the fog. The fog was one of the worst weather conditions any pirate could get.. The world around them was now hidden. All the world just fell silent, and that was all you could do. When sight was no longr a luxery, you heard land or other ships with your ears. Blowhole kept all alert.

The men of the ship were all ears. All they could hear was the wind on the sea. Nothing else. The penguins were silent, and listening to the waves. Rico was at the wheel. All were sitting around waiting patiently to get to their desired destination. Eli was in the crows nest. He was looking through the spyglass. He couldn't see a blasted thing. He slowly scanned in all directions. Not a single breath of a soul. He scanned until he saw a big smiling face pop up through the scope. He fumbled back a bit, almost dropping the spyglass. He clutched it to his body, and glared angrily at the face that had startled him. it was Julien. "Lemur? What are you doing here?" He whispered to him."

"I was just wanting to see what you could see through this pirate lookey tool." He chuckeled. He snatched the shiny brass spyglass away and started looking out to sea.

Meanwhile the Captain was growing restless. He knew which direction he was headed, but at any moment he could accidentally crash into land. His compass was pointing them southwest. He kept a sharp eye out on the desolate nothingness. When he looked up, his gunner Rico was oxxasionally looking at his compass, and then making sure they stayed on course. A wave of uneasyness washed over him. He wheeled over to his ships bow. The boys were keeping a sharp eye. Tristan was sweeping the deck of the sand and dust. Erik had been munching on a pear. he smiled over at the captain, and the captain nodded in return.

"Anything yet, boys?" The captain questioned. The seamen shook their heads. They saw nothing.

Suddenly Mort shouted. "I think we should play a pirate game!" Everyone got startled. Dante picked up the lemur quickley, and slapped a paw over his mouth.

"Quiet child. Are you out of your mind? We don't have any clue about what could be out there. Do you want to get us killed?" As forcefull as Dante was, he was all too right. Nobody knew what could be in these waters. A merchant ship could be passing by, and Mort could have very well just given away their pirate identity. They also needed to keep their ears out for survielance for passing by land.

Meanwhile on a ship not too far away, a female crew was listening for any traces of merchant ships. They knew that if I merchant ship went by, then they would be doomed. A female was not allowed on merchant ships. They would find out right away that they were pirates, and they would be either have to surrender or fight. Suddenly Kelsi and Naomi percked up their ears. All the girls looked at them Rachel looked confused. Naomi listened intently. She was a sharp listener. Kelsi could hear it quite well too. "I hear something." They both whispered. Naomi ran up to starboard side of the boat. She inhaled through her nose smelling the air close by. She had the strongest nose on board. "I smell . . . I smell something. It's definitely something out there. I think it might be a ship." She smellled the air closing her eyes, trying to recognize the smell.

"How close is the ship? Kelsi you have echolocation. Try to see what you can pick up." She nodded, and stood out on the ship's edge as far as she could. Being a vampire bat, she was well equipped with echolocation. She let out her high pitch squeak that of course no one else could hear. It was silence, as she opened her mouth, letting out the inaudible screech. They all sat and waited for her to get a reading. Her sonar took a little while. For a moment, they felt that she might not get a reading on anything. Suddenly her eyes got worried.

She glided back over toward the captain. "It's close. Very close. Maybe not as close as to land an attack, but close enough to notice us at a shout. We need to keep voices down. I don't know how big they are. I could only find distance."

Captain Ellie know knew that she might be in a bit of trouble. There was definitely a ship out there, and if they needed to, they would have to attack. Everyone grabbed their large hats. If this were a merchant ship ship, then they would have to hide the fact that they were women. They weren't planning on stealing any more, and risking life. They had more than enough. To be sure, she ran over to the cabin girl. The young toucan was pulling a black sun hat over head. It was large and wide, keeping her eyes hidden. "Kiki you have the sharpest vision on this ship. I need you to see if ye can see through the fog, and see what wer going up against." She obeyed, and darted in the air, up high. She went above the blanket of fog, to see what she could her eyes were scanning, and she saw what she had to. A ship. A large one. It was maybe even larger than their own if that was even possible. She could hardly believe it. She circled around, and leaned to get a better look. There were some Animals that were so different, that she had never seen in her life. She soared over back to the galleon, and descended back onto the the gem blood.

"It's huge. The ship might be as big as our own ship. Perhaps even larger. It's hard to say, but they have a crew that outnumbers us. Many of the animals on board are the same species as us, but there are some different ones. I don't know if they're merchants or part of a navy. They don't have any flags." Captain Ellie nodded.

"Aye. Well, girls. The fog is clearing quickly. I say we pull the hats on, and keep our faces hidden. If they be something other than merchants, or if the discuisses don't work . . . well you know what to do." They all scurried, and got their hats on quickly. It was vital to keep a low profile. Theydid all necesarry. The British flag was raised, all was taken back to look normal. A few women were crouched down below the starboard side of the ship, with grappling hooks just in case

On the silver wake, Raymond noticed a small shadow above them. It was greyed by the fog, but he could have swore he saw something. He couldn't tell for sure, but there might have been a bird or something other above them. Was there a ship close by. There could be no way a single bird was out on the Atlantic all by itself. He ran over to Blowhole. "Captain Blowhole. I'm not sure, but I think that I saw someone."

"How could you see someone? We are out beyond any trading routes." He knew every trading route in the Atlantic. Raymond pointed up at the sky. Blowhole looked alert. He shook his head. "Do you think it could be a merchant ship?" Raymond shook his head. It was most likely an enemy. Blowhole nodded. "Right." The fog was clearing. Blowhole pulled out his spyglass, and turned it towards the spot he was told it came from. He saw a bunch of animals aboard the ship. Each man had a large dark wide hat down covering their eyes. He saw the small captain. He had a scarlet red hat pulled low over his face. The size of the ship was far larger than what he thought. It might have been larger than his ship. They weren't too far off. The crew looked incredibly small. They must have been a young crew. Either that or malnourished. Either way, it would have been easy picking if they held something of a valueable nature. He folded his spyglass back. "Alright everyone grab a cutlass, and a pistol if you have one. Eli fetch me musket." Everybody was getting ready. Maurice raised the jolly roger sail. Max and Skipper were handing out the cutlasses, and pistols. They all made their way to port side. Each man had been violently waving their cutlasses in the air, shouting and trying to spark fear into the hearts of the enemy ship, and make them cower under their large hats.

The women were not being intimidated. They all sat there in their spot without a sound. Under their hats, they kept silence. Seeming calm was one of their greatest assets. The girls established that they were an enemy pirate crew. Merchants wouldn't threaten. The men's ship died down considerably fast. They were all confused by how the other ship was not reacting. They didn't even look at them. All were like stone. Not a single sailor moved. Blowhole's crew was starting to feel uneasy by the serenity of the rival crew. Suddenly out of nowhere they saw a jolly roger with an armadillo skull start to rise. It had two crossed cutlasses on it's flag. Suddenly they figured out that the ship they were attacking was a pirate ship as well. Blowhole saw the masked captain smile softly under her hat.

Captain Ellie shouted under her large scarlet hat. "ATTAAAAAACK!" Out of nowhere five sailors holding grappling hooks rose from the side of the ship, and attached themselves to the silver wake. All the girls grabbed a rope, and leaped on board of the ship. The only exceptions were Maddie, Kelsi, and Kiki who simply flew over to the ship, with their cutlasses tied to their waist. The boys had been decieved, thinking to believe that they were merchants. Darla leaped on board, and started fighting Maurice. He held her off. Maddie plunge dived near the smallest of the crewsmen. Little Private yelped, and held his cutlass out keeping the ducks atacks away. Cassie crawled aboard, and crossed swords with Eli. They were fighting atop the sails. Becky tackled Rico, and pounced up to draw her sword out. Rico pulled a long cutlass from his gut, and smiled. Roger held out his broad saber, and growled. Amy was darting aboard the ship, and ran till she was stopped by Max. Max drew his sword squinting his eyes. Amy squinted as well, though it wasn't seen underneath the hat. Stacy held up a sword, being cornered by Tristan, and Vincent. She was not afraid, and challenged them both.

Dante was taken surprise by Rachel. Their swords clattered, and clanked. "Just try to kill me bunny boy." Up in the air Kelsi and Erik had been slamming into each other trying to slice into each others wings. If one was punctured they would fall like a brick. Skipper had been barraged by Marlene as she got feral and attacked Skipper with her bare hands. Skipper was trying to pull her off. Naomi, and Kyle were getting low growling baring their teeth. They were stalking, then went for each others throats.

Mia was up against Julien. She had learned to fight with grace. It was a fighting technique she learned on the ocean. It was a form of dance fighting. When she began, she was shocked to see this lemur knew it as well. Tanya and Raymond were fighting with ferocity, considering their great strength. Kowalski was confronted with a smaller enemy. A toucan with great speed of her wings. Kowalski was pinned between the toucan and the wall of the ship about to be pushed overboard. "We can't kill them, Captain Blowhole. There are too many of them."

Blowhole had finally been greeted when the captain of the hatted ship landed on top of his sageway. She smiled and tipped her hat down respectfully. He pulled out his cutlass, and swung mercilessly at the small armadillo. She leapt up to a sail rope, when he started aiming for her feet. She swung swiftly trying to get to his only eye. If he couldn't see, he couldn't fight. "Give it up marine mammal. I have been pirating for years. These are my waters." She shoved his sword back, and got close to his face. "There can be only one." She snarled.

He kept her sword out of the area of his face, and got it low, so he could hopefully get to her feet. He was sure that this man was not so clever as he suggested. "I doubt that you could honestly steal anything of mine." He saw some of the enemies crew getting ready to head to his hold where he kept the last of his gold. He could not let them take it away. "Vincent. Go to the hold! Grab the gold, and bring it out. Don't let them get their paws on it." Vincent soared down to the hold, and dissappeared. He grinned devilishly to the armadillo that was clashing swords with him. "Ha! You pirates thought you could capture our gold that easily eh? I'm on to your scheme."

"You may not be as clever as you say you are. You are still at the mercy of our blades." She smiled. Her smile was all that could be seen. Nothing more. She kept her voice low, so her identity would be kept secret as well as the others. A full female crew would be well remembered, and so far they had not been recognized by merchant nor pirate. "You would be surprised by our tacticts, Mr. Captain Blowhole." He grabbed her paw, and pulled her close.

"Why do you wear hat's to cover your faces, men? Were you burned by acid or something like that?" He asked. "If you are a group of burnt faced pirates I understand." She slammed her fist down on his flipper causing his grip to be released. She jumped when he tried to slice of her tail. She landed on a grappling hook wire. She tried to carefully keep her balance, as he tried to swing at her. Vincent came back with a large bag of gold coins. It was wieghing him down severly. "Toss me the gold coins! Don't let the strangers grab it!" Vincent tossed them his way. Ellie jumped on his head, and leapt down to grab it. She chucked it into the air, and Kelsi darted from her airborn fight with Erik, and clutched it with her teeth. She flew over to the ship, and tossed it down the stairs to their underquarters. Blowhole was angered. "NO! You fools will not get that loot! No man steals my gold. I steal, and never get stolen from. Not by any man."

Captain Ellie smiled knowing that her identity was safe. "Well, I am no man!"

Blowhole was confused "Honestly, well then what be you?" He got mad, and pulled off the hat that covered her face. When he got a glimpse of her face, he was completely blown away. He had no clue he was fighting a woman. For a moment he was struck by her sudden glimpse. never before had he seen a female pirate in all his life. "A woman?"

Ellie knew that now she had to kill them. If she didn't they would easily be hunted down and killed by either the authorities, or easily spotted by enemies.

Everyone froze in their tracks. All the men were confused they quickly reached for the women's hats, raising them up to see the identity of their enemies. Cassie felt her hat being pulled away by the fruit bat she was attacking, and tried to keep it on without much luck. It was eventually pulled all the way off. Embarrased she tried to hide her face of the truth. One of her hands went up to hide her face. The dumbstruck Eli gently pulled her paw down, and got a look at her face trying to absorb the fact that it was in fact a woman on the ship. He felt a hard slap to the face, as she pulled her at back. Private looked at the duck he was fighting. He lowered his sword, and crouched down, so he could get a glimpse of the woman underneath. Could such a bizzare crew be real? Maddie stared at him under the hat. "Please don't laugh." She was frightened, then slowly she removed her cap smiling at the penguin shyly. Private's beak dropped. Kowalski couldn't believe it. He pinned the toucan against the side of the boat, and slowly lifted the rim of the hat. Her sparkling eye stared up at him, terrified. Kowalski was astounded. She was so frightened, yet so beautiful. Slowly he smiled and breathed out a small laugh. Surprised to say the least. He lifted a wing to touch her face, to see if it were true.

"True be that, darling! Thank you Captain Blowhole, for bringing the gold to me personally! It would have been tough having a seasperson flying with a mouth of gold! Now if you'll excuse me I must kill you know. Nobody can see our secret and live." She flipped off the wire, and jumped up to his control panel. She was not without threat. Blowhole instantly pulled out a pistol, and held it to her head. Her eyes gaped at it, shocked. Blowhole grinned at her fear.

"Seems like you have no choice, but to be our prisoners or die." He grinned. She stared at the pistol closely, then in a flash, pulled out her own. With a loud boom, she shot in the air. Blowhole gaped at it, scared out of his mind. It was pointed right at him.

She smiled back at him. "I guess one shouldn't get too ahead of one's self." So there they were. They both had a pistol aimed at them. Neither was going to make a move. Blowhole didn't know whether or not to shoot a lady. Ellie simply wasn't going to spend her bullet on the captain of a crew that outnumbered her own. They just stared at each other waiting. The crew had been frozen ever since Ellie shot in the air. Nobody was going to dare to move a muscle. "Well, what will you do, Captain? Are you just going to shoot me, and kill my girls too?" Blowhole shook his head. Ellie was grateful. She had never had a gun pointed towards her.

Mia spoke from the other side of the ship. "Well . . . What do we do now?"

Blowhole scoffed. "I'm thinking. Just give me a minute."

Ellie sneered. "Don't speak to my crew like that!"

Blowhole shoved the gun barrel against her temple. That's when he noticed each girl had a beautifull piece of jewelry on them. He grinned. "Listen up, girls. Here's what's going to be done. We will let you all live, but under one condition. I see you all have marvelous pieces of jewelry. You will drop them, right where you are, and return to your ship. You will then sail away, and we will go our seperate way." Ellie nodded to her crew, wanting to keep them safe. She didn't want to loose anybody. She saw Rachel take all her rings off. They fell to the ship floor. Next she saw Kiki take off her Amethyst pendant, as watched as it thudded to the floor of the ship. One by one, she heard their treasures fall to the surrendur of the men.

She felt her fingers wrap around the Sapphire she had fallen in love with, and started shaking her head. Blowhole nodded. "You two darling. Off with it." His only eye had grown cold. She slowly pulled it off from around her neck. "Down on the floor." He pointed his pistol toward the wooden deck. She slowly bent down to put it on the floor. "Drop it." Her fingers unwrapped. And he pointed his pistol at her ship signalling her. "Now get lost."

Ellie snapped her fingers. "Come on girls." She pointed towards the gem blood, and they all fled to the galleon. Blowhole then watched as she backed away, not leaving his eyes.

He smirked, then called. "Eli. Snap the grappling hooks off." Eli did as told, taking an axe to the wires. Ellie then got Mia behind the wheel. "You're lucky." Shouted Blowhole. "Next time you will breath your last breath on our ship." Ellie then got an angry face, and held up the loaded large bag of gold. All that Blowhole had left. She smirked back at him, and raised her eyebrows. "Oh right." He grumbled. "Well at least we still have your precious jewels." She rolled her eyes, and they went off in opposite directions.

Maddie waved to Private, with a warm blush on her face. She had never met such a kind and gentle pirate. Private grinned as he held his wing over his heart. They must have liked each other right away. Eli smiled nervously at the squirrel Cassie. Cassie simply squinted her eyes in sheer disgust. Apparently she didn't like her secrets being revealed. Regardless she looked back and grinned deviously. Kiki flew to the stern of the boat getting one last glimpse of the boat of men that now knew their secret. She saw the tall penguin run to the back of his galleon. He glanced out to her, and smiled widely, and nodded to her, bowing like a gentleman. Nobody had looked at her the way he did. She slowly started to smile flattered by his admiration. Maybe this ship wsn't such a bad ship after all.


End file.
